Desktop Photo Editing & Retouching (Photoshop & Lightroom)
About This Course
At the professional level, editing is a production operation. The work is not a single pass over an image; it is a planned post-production pipeline that takes a shoot from ingest through development, retouching, grading, and delivery, on schedule and to specification.
This course develops the advanced desktop editing and retouching capability that separates professional commercial work from technically competent amateur work, and the production discipline that delivers it reliably. Working in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, trainees build technical mastery: RAW processing and catalog management, the advanced develop panel and colour calibration, precision retouching through frequency separation, luminosity masking, and non-destructive dodge and burn, and colour grading through split toning, selective colour, and LUTs.
Around these techniques, trainees develop production plans and schedules for the full post-production pipeline, breaking down the production concept into a sequence of activities: designing the ingest-to-delivery workflow, sequencing each stage and handoff, and adjusting the schedule for a same-day editorial deadline versus a multi-week commercial project. Trainees then manage the coordination and execution of the production operations end to end, executing each stage of the pipeline to schedule and preparing files to the correct format, colour space, and resolution for print and digital delivery.
By the end of the course, trainees will be able to plan, schedule, coordinate and execute a complete commercial post-production operation, producing a curated, commercially retouched portfolio that demonstrates both technical mastery and professional production discipline.
What You'll Learn
- Develop the post-production plan and schedule by breaking down the production concept into a sequence of activities from ingest to delivery
- Adjust production plans and schedules for different delivery deadlines, from same-day editorial to multi-week commercial projects
- Coordinate and execute post-production operations end to end across Lightroom Classic and Photoshop
- Perform advanced RAW processing using the tone curve, HSL, and colour calibration
- Execute precision retouching with frequency separation, luminosity masking, and non-destructive dodge and burn
- Apply advanced colour grading using split toning, selective colour, and LUTs
- Build a non-destructive Photoshop workflow with smart objects, adjustment layers, and masks
- Prepare files to the correct format, colour space, and resolution for print and digital delivery
- Produce and curate a commercially retouched portfolio set
Entry Requirements
● Minimum age: 21
● 1 year of practical photography or content production experience, or equivalent portfolio
● Foundational photography proficiency (manual mirrorless or DSLR operation, RAW capture)
● Working proficiency with at least one desktop editing application (Lightroom Classic, Lightroom Desktop, Adobe Camera Raw, or equivalent)
● Basic Photoshop familiarity (layers, selections, adjustment layers). Learners without prior exposure are advised to complete a foundational Photoshop course
● Owns or has access to a Mac or Windows computer capable of running Lightroom Classic and Photoshop concurrently. Adobe Creative Cloud subscription required
● Computer literate at an intermediate level
● Proficient in written and spoken English at a professional working level
● Diploma or equivalent professional qualification
● Targeted at PMEs (commercial portrait and product photographers, advertising and editorial photographers, creative professionals)